Ep #103: The Most Dangerous Thing About Success

Hi docs, welcome to The EntreMD Podcast, where it’s all about helping amazing physicians just like you embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I’m your host, Dr. Una.

Hello, hello. Welcome back to another episode of The EntreMD Podcast. Super-pumped that you are here.

Now, I heard the most amazing story from one of the listeners who’s not a student in the EntreMD Business School, but she sent me a story about the impact this podcast has had, and I was like, “I need to share this.” So, big shoutout to you Darian Luney. I said I was going to shout you out. He’s a 15-year-old who happened to be listening to an episode of the podcast. I’m going to share his story with you.

Okay, so his mother sent me this email. She said, “Hi Dr. Una, I just had to email you about an unexpected effect of listening to your podcast. My 15-year-old son had to do a speech with a partner as part of a championship challenge in his history class. I could tell he wanted to win, but there was another kid in the class who he thought had a really good chance of winning the championship. He did most of the work writing the speech but said his partner would deliver it.

“I couldn’t quite tell if he was too shy to deliver it or if he simply gave into the other student’s desire to deliver the speech. I encouraged him to make sure the other student practiced, et cetera, because his grade depended on the other kid’s performance. At any rate, on our drive to school this morning, I was playing your podcast where you were talking about imposter syndrome. He and I had a discussion about it. I told him that he was well-prepared, et cetera, et cetera.

“Fast forward to the end of the day, my son told the other kid he’ll deliver the speech himself. He did the speech. His team won the championship. And his work was showcased in another class. When I asked him what made him change his mind about delivering the speech, he looked at me rather puzzled and asked me if I didn’t remember the conversation in the morning. You’re helping more than- just docs.”

Isn’t that crazy? So, here’s a 15-year-old who embraced speaking, won a championship, had his stuff showcased in another class because he listened to the podcast. I told her, I was like, that is the most amazing story I’ve ever heard from the podcast.

Alright, so big shoutout to you Darian. You, my friend, are going places. And don’t stop speaking, it is an amazing skill to have. Shoutout to you.

Alright people, let’s dig into this episode here. I hope the 15-year-old has inspired you to embrace all the things. But I was thinking – and you guys know, I share a lot of my thoughts with you. And it dawned on me that success can be dangerous. Not in the way you think, but success can be dangerous. And today, we’re going to be looking at the most dangerous thing about success.

Success is one of those things that can make you stop. It can make you stop trying to become better. It can make you stop trying to set bigger goals. It can make you give up on habits that you had that brought you were you were because you’re successful.

And the problem with that is because you’re successful, people may not know. You may not know that you settled. And I talk about it on the podcast a lot. We don’t want to settle. And it’s not about ambition. It’s not about, “I want to make all this money and I want to just keep pushing.” It’s not about that.

It’s about becoming everything you have the potential to be. Like, why not? If you’re wired to do it, if you have the capacity to do it, why not? Why not strive to be the best version of yourself? Life is an adventure, why not strive? But success can kind of lull you to sleep. It really can.

You know how they say that the good is the enemy of the great? When you’re successful, you’re good. If you settle, you stay good and you’ll never become great. Never. And I don’t know about you, but I want to be great. And not for the sake of being great. I just want to be everything I can be.

So, I’m going to give you some things to look at so you can have an accountability meeting with yourself and discover, have I settled? And the thing about settling is it’s so subtle that you may not even recognize it.

So, you used to be the person who worked out every day. It was your habit. It was for your mental health and your physical health. But now you’re at the weight you should be at and you’re okay so you skip workouts. You know what I mean?

In the beginning of your business, you were telling everybody. You were going out there. You were putting your message out there. You were diligent, you were doing the coaching, you were doing everything. And you’ve hit your first $100,000 or $500,000 or a million or whatever it is, and then you settle.

And Ed Mylett, he has a way of talking about it and he’s like, “What is the price for your destiny?” Like, what is that thing that you’ll get that will stop you from chasing? You know what I mean? You’re the one that’s supposed to build that business, that’s supposed to completely disrupt an industry, completely liberate a group of people. But you hit your first $300,000 and then you settle. You’re like, “I don’t need to keep doing this. I don’t have to.” So, what was your price? It was $300,000. You took that in exchange for destiny.

Okay, so let’s take a look at this. I had to have a conversation with myself because the thing about this dangerous part of business is you can be in deception, you can think you’re still pushing, you’re still advancing, you’re still making progress, and you’re not. So, it’s not based on the results, because some of the results you are getting are based on things you did two years ago, five years ago, six months ago.

But the question is, am I doing things today that will be creating bigger results for me tomorrow? Because if you’re not, then you’ve settled, even though you look like you’re still okay.

So, I had to ask myself some critical questions which I’m sharing with you so you can ask yourself these questions. So, the first question is, when you first started your business, you were willing to invest. You were willing to invest in personal development. Because you knew, to get different results, you had to be a different kind of person. To become a different kind of person, you need to have a different kind of input.

You knew that. I knew that. And so, because of that, you guys have heard me tell the story many times. The first time I was ever involved in coaching, it was a $43,000 coaching program for 10 months. Why? Because I was willing to do what it took for me to become this different version of myself.

Now, the question becomes, am I still coaching? Am I still being coached? Am I still approaching coaching the same way? Am I still so deliberate about the fact that I have to change to get different results, or am I coaching? Or am I just relying on what I learned yesterday?

Because if I’m not still going after that, then I’m staying the same, which means two years form now I’ll be getting the same results or worse. So, I had to look at that. What does your budget for coaching look like this year? What strategic skill do you know you need to get? Have you linked up with a coach who will help you get there or the program?

Because if I haven’t, then I’ve settled. I’ve said, this is enough. This is all I want to be. And this is not bad. But it depends on what you’re trying to do. I’m chasing the best version of myself. I am. So, I looked at that. Am I doing that? And that’s the question you need to ask yourself. Am I paying the price to become the version of me that can get the results I want?

And if you haven’t started doing that at all, I want to invite you to do that. If you used to do that and you stopped, I want to invite you to get back because it produced a change. And now, it’s time for another change. So, that’s number one.

Number two, one of the fastest ways to grow any business is by speaking. And that could be online. It could be a podcast. It could be a virtual summit. It could be a masterclass, those kinds of things. It could be offline on the physical stage.

And when I started growing EntreMD, I really did a lot of speaking. I did a lot of videos and all that stuff before we launched the podcast. And now we’re over 100 episodes. I did a lot of that.

So, I had to have a meeting with myself and say, “Dr. Una, are you still working hard at getting your message out there? Are you still working hard at reaching out to doctors and letting them know that they’ve told you you’re an MD, not an MBA, you can’t do this business stuff? But I’m here to tell you that you can. Are you still out there telling people that even though you’re employed, you’re an entrepreneur? We call you an intrapreneur. You work for you incorporated. You can build a brand. You can build a profitable brand. Are you still out there doing that, or have you settled? Have you just come into the comfort zone of I do a podcast episode a week and I just chill? Am I still hungry? Am I still trying to make progress? Or am I just in the status quo? Or am I just relying on things I did before?”

I had to ask myself that. I want you to ask yourself that too. I’m building a business. Am I out there? Am I finding new audiences and sharing my message with them? Am I as deliberate about it as I was in the beginning? Am I still throwing massive action at it, or have I settled? Is this all there is? Have I arrived?

And if you find out that you’re not doing as much as you used to, then it’s time to go back. It’s time to look at that. It’s time to go back. It’s time to throw massive action behind it. So, that’s number two.

The third thing I looked in is, am I still thinking a lot about the impact I want to create? Am I still thinking about the difference that I want my business to make? Am I still thinking about my clients and potential clients a lot, to say, what are they struggling with? What can I help them with? What kind of wins can I give them? What questions do they have that I need to answer? What do they need to be inspired to reach for? What possibility do I need to show them? Am I still doing that?

Because listen, I’m not a content creator in the literal sense of the word. I’m not just looking for content to create. I’m looking to solve problems. I’m looking to answer questions. I’m looking to inspire. Am I still thinking about my people all the time? Like, not obsessively all the time, but you know what I mean, I think.

That drive to bring change, that drive to bring change in the physician community, is it still there? Or am I content because I have people listening to the podcast and I have people in the EntreMD Business School and I have one on one clients and I’m like, “I’m good?” But that’s not what I set out to do. I set out to help 80,000 doctors. Is that still my drive? I had to ask myself that.

Number four, when you start a business and when you’re growing a business, one of the things that you have to embrace is collaboration. Nobody builds anything big in isolation. And for me, as an introverted introvert, that was hard, reaching out to people, working with people, going to be guests on other people’s podcasts, collaborating with them in their programs, speaking at their events, being out there, so not just in my world or the EntreMD world, but being where the physicians are. Because physicians are my people.

And I had to embrace the discomfort of all of that and do it. So, the question is, have I stopped? Am I still delivering? Am I still reaching out? Am I still saying yes? Am I still going like, I have physicians in my orbit? There are a million physicians. There are so many physicians that have no idea I exist. Am I still intentionally looking to leverage the power of collaboration to reach them, or have I settled? Am I cool? Am I like, yeah, I’m just good where I am? And that’s a question to ask yourself.

This is one of those podcast episodes where you’re going to go, if you’re listening to this on your commute or you’re taking a walk and stuff like that, you’re going to go back and you’re going to pull put a pen and paper and you’re going to work through this again.

So, for you, I’d ask you, are you collaborating? Are you reaching out to new audiences? Are you doing the uncomfortable thing of putting yourself out there? Are you cool? Did you hit your six figures, multiple six figures, seven figures and you’re like, “I’m cool?” There’s more. Our businesses are called to serve a lot and earn a lot. Are you collaborating?

And the fifth one is kind of like the first one. When I started off as an entrepreneur, you guys have heard my story. My first business was my private practice, and I didn’t know anything about entrepreneurship. So, it was terrifying to say the least.

And as an introverted introvert who was also socially awkward and super-shy, I was not going to do the things that worked for a business. And I also thought that the people who were entrepreneurs who were doing great things were just better than me.

I didn’t think they knew things I didn’t know, which is literally what it is. Nobody’s better than you. And I developed a habit; a habit of reading. I read a lot. We’re talking 36 to 52 books a year. A lot.

And that is one of the things that helped me to experience such a dramatic transformation that people are like, how did you become this person? How did you become this person?

So, the question is, am I still a veracious reader? Am I still reading a lot? Do I go after knowledge and information knowing that in a book, in a CD, somewhere, is the transformation that I’m looking for? Am I still hungry, or am I satisfied? Am I okay to now read a book every other month?

And this is not, “Oh no, I read, no, no…” I have to look back to the last three months. What did I do? That’s the answer to the question. So, did I settle? Have I arrived? Or am I still going? The good is really the enemy of the best.

And that’s the reason why you should always have goals that are out there. Because the goals that are out there keep you uncomfortable. They keep you striving. They remind you that you haven’t arrived. Not in a dissatisfied kind of way, but it keeps you still hungry for more.

Okay, so those are the five questions I ask myself. Are you still investing in coaching? Are you still speaking to reach your audience? Are you still hungry to have a huge impact? Are you still collaborating? Are you still reading?

I want you to ask yourself these questions. Have you settled? There’s so many places where we could have settled, right? I mean, you’re a doctor, why are you an entrepreneur? You’re a doctor, you can figure out how – I mean, this is not about bills. This is not about making money. This is not about helping people. You can do all of that as a physician. Why are you here?

You’re here because you want to help. You’re here because you want to help. You’re here because you want to make a change. You’re here because you want to have a meaningful life. And I’m telling you, whatever you’ve experienced, there’s more. There’s so much more. So, don’t settle.

I think about, what if you did all these things and literally every 90 days, you were different? Between the coaching, the reading, the collaborating, the speaking, and you looking for more impact. What if every 90 days you were different, rather than December 31^st, looking at your goals and going, “Crap, I didn’t do anything I set out to do.”

What if every quarter you were different? What if at the end of every quarter, you can look at significant changes you’ve made as a person, as an entrepreneur, and in your business? What if you could have that? How cool would that be? That’s how you get four years in one. That’s how you get four years in one. What if you could be?

So, don’t settle. And I’ll leave you with this little thought. This is a reason; this concept is the reason why the EntreMD Business School is structured the way it is. I did the 12-week course. It was called the Freedom Formula Masterclass. And the first time I offered it, the end of it was so sad because people got crazy wins. Like, I 15X’d my business, those kind of crazy wins.

And at the end of 12 weeks, we’re like, okay it’s done. Like, what do you mean it’s done? What? There’s a strong community. There’s great coaching. There’s great accountability going on. It was amazing. And I was like, “Oh my goodness, I’m never doing a 12-week thing again.”

Do you know why? Because even though they got the wins, I know that that is just the stepping stone for what comes next. Whatever you’ve experienced is just the stepping stone for what comes next. So, when I do the 12-week program, I feel like I’m aborting the process.

Yes, they had the win, but that’s not the end. That’s the stepping stone for what’s next. So, the EntreMD Business School is there, giving you no opportunity to settle. Let’s just go. Let’s go, you know.

So, don’t settle. Sit down, do the analysis, ask yourself the questions, tell yourself the honest truth. And if you find you settled, or you find you’ve been settled, then I want you to go back to what you used to do. I want you to go after being hungry for results, for you being different as a person, as an entrepreneur, and for your business to be different.

Now, if this helped you, again, I do this with all the love, from the depth of my heart, I would love you to share this with another doctor. I would love you to share this with a program director who will give it to all his residents. I would love you to share it with a medical association. I would love you to share the podcast and let people know, there is a different reality for we physicians.

So, thank you. I appreciate it. I love you, as always, and I will see you on the next episode of The EntreMD Podcast.

Hey, if you love listening to The EntreMD Podcast I want to invite you to join EntreMD On Demand. It is my signature subscription program that gives you access to a library of business courses designed to help you do one thing as a physician entrepreneur, and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com/ondemand and I’d love to have you join us. See you on the inside.